When Auburn forward Johni Broome was looking to transfer after spending two seasons at Morehead State, he narrowed his list of transfer destinations down to two schools: Auburn and Florida.

And when Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl’s phone buzzed moments before Broome was scheduled to announce his decision, Pearl honestly hadn’t a clue how the ensuing conversation with the coveted transfer prospect was going to go.

Fortunately for Pearl, the conversation was favorable as Broome told him he’d be coming to play at Auburn.

On the other side of Broome’s decision was first-year Florida head coach and a former Pearl assistant, Todd Golden.

“I’m still a little mad that he decided not to come here when I first got the job,” Golden joked Saturday after Florida’s 81-65 win over Auburn.

As someone who heavily recruited Broome when the big man hit the transfer portal, Golden knew the Gators were going to have their hands full with him come Saturday afternoon.

“He’s one of the best players in America right now,” Golden said of Broome. “I put him top 10 for sure, top five, maybe even.”

Coming into Saturday’s game at Florida’s Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, Broome was leading Auburn’s scoring efforts with an average of 16 points per game, while also chipping in an average of more than eight rebounds.

That said, Golden knew if he and his Florida squad were going to have a chance at stunning No. 12 Auburn, the focus had to start there — the Gators needed to find a formula to stop Broome, who was coming off a 24-point, seven-rebound effort during Auburn’s win over Alabama on Wednesday.

“Now I have a lot of respect, he’s a great kid, a lot of respect for his ability to play. And we just wanted to run bodies on him and make it really hard for him and make him think about something every time he caught the ball,” said Golden, adding that the Gators double-teamed Broome anytime he got the ball in the post.

For the most part, Florida’s plan to combat Broome worked.

Against the Gators, Broome tallied 14 points — nine of which came in the second half — on a 6-for-11 shooting night. It didn’t help Auburn’s case that Broome suffered an uncharacteristic night from the free throw line, where he went 1-for-8.

“Ten shots, five makes, obviously a rough game from the line,” Golden said of Broome. “But he was incredible on Wednesday against Alabama, like he made every play and I thought today we did a good job of making him see more jerseys, more bodies when he was in the paint.”

But in dealing with a team as deep as Auburn’s Florida’s defensive game plan couldn’t solely center around Broome.

“Their frontcourt is one of the best, if not the best in America,” Golden said of Auburn’s bigs. “They got Johni, they got Jaylin (Williams), and then they bring in Dylan Cardwell, who’s like one of the biggest winners in college basketball. Chaney (Johnson) provides good minutes for them. So they just keep running these really good players at you.”

Like Broome, Williams also put together a huge night against the Crimson Tide on Wednesday — a career-night, in fact, as Williams logged a career-best 26 points.

On Saturday against the Gators, Williams was limited to just six points on a 3-for-10 shooting effort.

Together, Broome and Williams, who combined for 50 points against Alabama, were held to a combined 20 points against Florida.

“They were great and really well prepared. They were more physical,” Pearl said of the Gators. “Their length really bothered us. Didn’t execute particularly well. Their length — they’re really long.”

In Micah Handlogten and Alex Condon, Florida boasts two players who are 7-foot-1 and 6-foot-11, respectively. Handlogten went on to tally four blocks against the Tigers.

When Golden was asked if Wednesday was the best defensive effort he’d seen from his team this season, he replied in the affirmative.

And had Pearl been asked the same thing of the Gators, he’d likely agree.

“Give Florida all the credit,” Pearl said. “To blame my team because we didn’t do this or we didn’t do this — would take away from one of the top five teams in the league. I think, been through and seeing almost everybody, Florida will finish in the top five.”